Minnie the Elephant has been the "property" of The Commerford Zoo, located in Goshen, CT, since 1976. Minnie has been abused and used by Bob and Tim Commerford for most of her life. According to the Non Human Rights Project, who has been fighting for Minnie's freedom since 2017, Minnie has not been seen for two years. It is not known if Minnie is alive or dead. The USDA has not conducted a visit since October 17, 2019. If Minnie is still alive she is being hidden in a barn on the Commerford's property. Yet they have boasted that she has six acres to roam around on.

Minnie was bought as a slave for $4,000, at only two months old, by Earl and Elizabeth Hammonds in 1972. The Hammonds wanted a baby elephant for their traveling petting zoo. They transported Minnie (then called Mignon) in a VW bus from Florida to New Jersey so she could become "the first elephant in the world to be raised as a member of a household." In the Hammond's 1977 book, Elephant's in the Living Room, Bears in the Canoe, they gleefully brag that Minnie was rented out for parties, sales promotions and Republican political gatherings to pay her bills. So much for being a member of their family, as they sold her to the Commerfords in 1976.

Minnie's suffering at the hands of humans has been her heart wrenching fate. Minnie is now 49 years old; she has never known anything except forced servitude, beatings, and emotional and mental abuse.

Interesting that in a 2017 interview with a local journalist, Commerford Zoo co-owner, Tim Commerford also says that Minnie is his family (as did the Hammonds). "I grew up with the elephants all my life. They're family. The animal advocates can say what they want, but they're part of the family." He goes on to say, "the elephants are in perfect health and checked regularly by veterinarians."

But we know that was a lie because in 2019 Karen and Beulah, two other elephants under their "care" died after decades of abuse.

Here are some of the ways that these two elephants (along with Minnie) were treated as "family members" of the Commerfords:

*Forced to give rides (even though Beulah had a foot disorder for years); *Forced to have pictures taken with hundreds of fair goers;  *Beulah was "power washed" as a stunt for the crowds of paying customers who sat in lawn chairs, ate lunch and laughed at the spectacle that Beulah was reduced to;  *The elephants were used in commercials and theatrical performances;  *They were continually transported to circuses, fairs, and other venues;  *They were routinely hit with bullhooks (There are distinct methods used to make elephants comply and many are enforced while they are babies or very young, but the beatings continue throughout their lives).                                                               

Subsequently, Beulah died from Sepsis caused by uterine infections. She also had tumors for 10 years prior to her death. Beulah collapsed three times at The Big E fair in West Springfield, MA, and was forced to get up and continue to give rides. The last time she collapsed she was no longer able to get up. She died right there at the fair. (Someone took a picture so the documentation exists of Beulah collapsed on the grass). The Commerford's claim she collapsed twice and was not forced to get up. So they concede she collapsed but won't admit to the last and final time. They slowly killed her over a long period...but make no mistake, they killed Beulah and Karen. Karen died of untreated kidney disease. Minnie's fate at this time is not known.

But despite 50 citations by the USDA to the Commerford Zoo for violating 'minimum standards' of the Animal Welfare Act, the Commerfords were not only allowed to exhibit and travel with the elephants they were also inexplicably exonerated for the deaths of Karen and Beulah.

Sonny Perdue, former USDA Secretary: "Licensees are required to be in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act in providing appropriate veterinary care for their animals. The Commerford Zoo provided documentation that Beulah and Karen were under veterinary care at the time of their deaths and that the care provided was appropriate." This was his response to Senator Richard Blumenthal's demand for an explanation for why these two elephants died and why the Commerford Zoo continued passing USDA inspections.

The USDA's records show they conducted 25 unannounced inspections to the Commerford's property and according to an email by USDA spokesperson Andre Bell, "Inspectors tracked the health status of Beulah and Karen to ensure they were receiving adequate veterinary care."

Since Beulah and Karen both ended up dead we fail to see that adequate care was given. In addition, records prove that the USDA knew of the dire medical conditions of the elephants.

Citations (concerning veterinary care) by the USDA include:    *Failure to give veterinary care for excessive accumulation of necrotic skin. (Minnie); * Failure to provide adequate veterinary care for overgrown cuticles (2017) [hence the foot disorder]. (Beulah)

So Mr. Perdue and Mr. Bell's claims of adequate care are not aligned with their own agency's documented citations. 

Other citations include: *Failure to have employee or attendant present during public contact;  *Failure to maintain elephant transport trailer;  *Inadequate drainage in elephant enclosure;  *Failure to dispose of soiled hay, bedding and feces behind barn.

A vast amount of advocacy has been put forth by animal activists; concerned individuals of the public (social media was flooded with comments conveying Minnie's state of health as 'sedated, sad, and sick); large organizations such as PETA; Minnie's legal team, The Non Human Rights Project; grassroots campaigns (such as ours - Animal Lives Count Coalition); and many others.

In flagrant disregard, the USDA, local, and state entities refuse to even do a welfare check on Minnie. They also refuse to remove Minnie from the RW Commerford & Sons Zoo, even though they have had a multitude of egregious violations and were responsible for the suffering and deaths of two magnificent elephants.

In addition to Minnie's poor health, the psychological abuse she has endured has resulted in aggression wherein she has attacked handlers. (As far back as 2006 while being loaded with kids she swung her head to the side and pinned two zoo workers, as just one example). This is typical behavior of elephants in captivity who are sick, injured, and harassed. The isolation she is enduring is also detrimental to her health and mental state as elephants are highly social, family oriented animals with complex cognitive abilities and emotions which mirror those of people.

The Commerfords have publicly admitted they do not have the money to care for Minnie as evidenced by a Go Fund Me account asking for 2.4 million dollars for food and general care. The Go Fund Me, launched by Earl & Elizabeth Hammonds state that the [poor] Commerford Zoo has been impoverished due to Covid. They have raised a paltry $2,348 dollars.

So who is taking care of the needs of Minnie and the other animals (camels, sheep, goats, llamas, donkeys, pygmy horses, ringtail lemurs, macaws, a kangaroo, a zebra, an African Grey Parrot, et al.) that the Commerfords keep in servitude for greed and profit. They aren't keeping these animals because they consider them family, they keep them because it is their business. They are ill-begotten animals regarded as possessions and nothing more to the Commerfords.

Please sign and share our petition to not only force an emergency check on Minnie but to bring her and all the other animals enslaved by the Commerford Zoo to freedom. The USDA and all the official entities who can help Minnie must be held accountable for her life. She must not be allowed to languish any longer under the Machiavellian, neglectful, and dangerous "care" of the Commerfords.

Minnie must not end up like Beulah and Karen.

For contact information for Connecticut representatives go to: portal.ct.gov